Straight-bar knitting machine



' May 2, 1939.

H. W. START ET AL STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet -l May 2, 1939. H. w. START ET AL v STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 2, 1939 Q Q v v I UNITED STATES PATIENT orrics STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINE.

mm Start, Carlton, and Ernest Start, Wilford, England Application June 11, 1938, Serial No. 213,252 In Great Britain December 21, 1936 3 Claims. .(Ol. 66-128) This invention relates to improvements in described with referenceto the accompanying straight-bar knittingmachines of the type known drawings, in which:

as Cottons", and it refers tothe thread carrier Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation, and bar stop mechanism. which is employed when Fig. 2 a front elevation of. automatically adit three threadcarriers are employed tosupply three. justed thread carrier bar stop mechanism condistinct threads to three distinct groups of the structed according to'our invention. needles, when for example knitting stocking feet Fig. 3 is a face view, and with asole composed of a different class of yarn Fig. 4 a side view of the lower end of one of .to the instep. Its object is toprovide an arrangethe lever stops which-are provided with four or l0 'ment for this purpose which is less complicated more stepped striking faces in different planes.

than and is free from the defectsof existing Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the lower end of arrangements. one of the lever stops shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In order to make work of this character on such Like letters indicate like parts throughout the machines, one thread carrier is employed to supdrawings. l6 ply a yarn to needles in the middle of the needle In the present arrangement, the thread carrier 16 bar and knit the instep of a foot for exampl and stops which are employed when knitting the two thread carriers one on each side of the class of work described, are mounted in two boxes middle carrier. are at the same time employed to A and B which are connected to screw nuts which supply yarns to groups of needles on the outer are mounted on right and. left hand threaded 20 side of those needleswhich are supplied with parts of a screw shaft C, which is intermittently 20 yarn by the middle carrier,- and knit two side rotated as usual in the required direction by strips which form the foot sole: ratchet wheel and pawl mechanism controlled by It will be appreciated, that the middle thread studs on a pattern chain. The two boxes A carrier works between two intermediate points in and B are by the action of the screw shaft 0, the needle-bar, and the other two thread carriers simultaneously moved towards or away from 26 work between these intermediate points and the each other as required. I

selvedges of, thowork, and that at the inter- The box A is fittedwith two adjustable stops, med a P t y upplied by the middle that is, one which is formed by a plunger E which thread carrier, in'ust overlap one or more of these i arried from the top f the b x d xtends 4 39 I needles wh ch a pp t Y y the Side, down below it, and another which is formed by a 30 carriers, in o a form secure sutures at lever F, which likewise extends from the top of intermediate po ts. 'l'lie ject of this invention the box down to a point below it, and is slotted iS'tO p de means whereby a Pe ect uniform midway between its ends where the pivot F overlap can be ad and which means is free passes through it. The plunger stop E can be from the defect oflexisting arrangements. This raised and lowered, whilst, the lever stop F can 35 efect a y consists oi the formation of a pinbe both raised and lowered and angularly adjusted hole at the overlap in those courses which are about its pivot F knitted at the same time asthe stops are trav- I The box B is fitted in like manner with at ersed. plunger stop G which can be raised and lowered,

40 According to the present invention, each of the and a lever stop H which can be both raised and '40 ve s boxes which carry the Stops for ,Oo lowered and angularly adjusted about its'pivot trolling'the movements of the thread carrier bars H in the same manner as the lever stop F. is provided with a lever stop which is provided The lower end of the plunger stop E in the box with four'or more stepped striking faces and is A is disposed in the path of an adjustable tappet adapted to be raised and lowered: and angularly J on the thread carrier bar J, and the lower 45 adjusted in order to adjust its several striking end of the plunger stop G in the box B is disfaces in the path of a tappet on a thread carposed in the path of an adjustable tappet K on V rier bar. The other stops are only provided with the. thread carrier bar K. The lower ends of twostriking faces which can by raising and lowthese two stops E and G are stepped, that is,

' ering them be adjusted in the paths of tappets' they are each formed with two striking faces, one 60 ,on two thread carrier bars. All the stops are of which is below and is set back relatively to the a raised and lowered by he same'mechanism, while other, so that the thread carrier bars J and K the lever stops are angularly adjusted by indewhen brought to rest by the upper and normal 1 pendent meenag striking faces, can be subsequently moved a little it The invention will now be more pag ticularly further when the stops are raised to bring the,

in'after described.

The lower ends; of. both the lever'stops F and H are disposed in the path of adjustable tappets L on the same thread carrier bar-L, and thelower end of each of these stops is formed as shown in Figs. 3 and}, with four striking faces a, b, c and .d for the tappets L to engage with; The-striking faces a and b correspond to the striking faces on the lower ends of the plunger ing face d is set further back than the striking .face 21. v The two striking faces'a andb are normally in use, and the striking faces 0 and dare lever stops as will be hereinafter described.

The thread carrier bar L, which is fitted with a thre carrier which lays say for example a.

silk ya on the needles 'in'the middle of the needle bar is controlled by the lever stops F and H, while the two thread carrier bars'J and K which are controlled by the plunger stops E and G arefitted with thread carriers which supply say for example cotton yarns to the needles at the ends of the needle bar, and in drawing each course, these twostops are adapted to stop the cotton yarn carriers when they reach the end needles of the group siipplied with yarn by the silkyarn carrier. End stops which are adjustable are also provided in connection with these two bars for stopp ng the cotton-yarn carrier's at the edges of the garment.

It will also be appreciated that the stopsdescribed are so disposed in the two boxes A and B, that whenthese boxes are moved closer together,

the amplitude of the silk .laying carrier will be increased, so that the width of the silk. portion of.. the'garment'will be increased, whilst the amplitude of the cotton laying carriers will be decreased to a corresponding extent, so that the width of the cotton side strips will be reduced, and that. the reverse result will be obtained when the boxes A and B are moved further apart.

When drawing each course, the four stops .de-' scribed will be in their lower or normal positions, but after they have brought the thread carrier bars to rest and the course is being knitted, the

- rangement.

four stops are raised, and the thread carriers on the thread carrier bars held by any of these stops are permittedto move a further distance of say two needles in the same direction as formerly, so that when the needles rise again after knitting the course, the yarn from each carrier is supplied to two extra needles eutside those on which the The upper ends of the plunger stops E and G and the lever stops F and H, are formed with upper ends which engage with a longitudinal rod M disposed above the boxes A and B in which they are disposed. This -rod is carried in the free ends of two arms M secured on 'a rocking shaft M which is mounted inbearings in the upper ends of arms M secured to a fixed shaft M secured in the fixed frame.

7 2,156,611 ,lower striking faces in; action as will be here- T When the boxes A and B are traversed by the screw shaft C, the upper ends of the stops which engage with the rod M described, slidealong the said rod and maintain connection therewith, and this rod M is adjusted about the rocking A third arm N on the rocking shaft M which carries-the said rod M has its free end connected by a link N to one end of a lever Nfwhich is pivoted at N? to an arm N which,is secured to the fixed shaft M. The other end 'of this lever N is provided with. a roller N which is disposed in the path of cam lifts O which are connected to and reciprocate with the slur'cocks O and these lifts Q are so disposed that they act upon the lever N and raise the stops immediately after the drawing of each course has'been completed by the continued movement of the slur cocks 0 The thread carriers are thus permittedto move the required distance in the same direction as when drawing the last course, preparatory to drawing the next course, and thereby effectingthe required overlap of the several yarns employed, on then'eedles.

Further provision has to be made in order to compensate for the traversing movements of the boxes A and B, which take place at intervals in order to vary the amplitude of movement of the three thread carrier bars J, K and L as is required from time to time. This compensation is efiected by an angular adjustment of the two lever stops F and H which brings the striking faces c and d on the said stops into operation in place of the normal faces a and' b, and the following arrangement is employed for effecting this operation.

A longitudinal rod P which is carried-on the free ends of two arms P on a rocking shaft P disposed just below the shaft M in bearings in the same arms M as the latter, passes through slots in the upper end of both lever stops F and H, and the latter are thus always connected to this rod, so that their angular position can always be adjusted by adjusting the rod P, a result which is effected by angularly adjusting the rocking shaft P. For this purpose the rocking shaftP is fitted with a third arm P which is connected by a link P to a lever S which is adjusted by studs '1' on a pattern chain U, which may be the same pattern chain which is employed for controlling the mechanism for traversing the box'esAandB.

It thus-follows that the lever stops F and H, both of which control the thread'carrier bar L and stop it at' the intermediate points in the needle .bar, are adjusted to bring into action their two extra striking faces 0 and'd which are so disposed asto position the, middle thread carrier where it will compensate for the traversingv movements of the boxes A and B eachtime these operations take place. When the boxes A and B are-adjusted to widen 'the middle or silk portion of the garment, the stops F and G must be angularly adjusted to bring the striking faces 0 and 11 into action in the course prior to thatin' which the movement of the boxes A and B is made.

On the other hand when the boxes'A and ,B are' adjusted in order to reduce the width of the middie or silk portion of the garment, the angular formation of pinholes in the courses which are knitted at such times as the boxes A and B are adjusted. I If it is desired to use three middle carriers operating in predetermined succession, as when making silk hose of thetype known as ring1ess", it

is only necessary to add four extra striking faces to the lever stops F and H in 'order to control the two extra thread carrier bars which are in this case employed, and these four extra striking faces, are disposed in line with-tappets on the additional thread carrier bars, in the same relative positions thereto as those employed in connection with the single thread carrier bar previously described.

The adjustable stops E, F, G and H described may be fitted with springs, for returning them to their normal positions, and means are further provided for raising them out of action. For this purpose, an arm R is secured on the end of the rocking shaft M, and this arm is fitted with a pawl 13. which is adapted to engage with a'catch on one of the bearings of the rocking shaft and hold all the said stops in their raised positions.

It will also be understood that further stops may be provided in the boxes A and B which can be put into and out of action by hand. What we'claim as our invention is:

1. In a straight-bar knitting machine having traversing boxes for carrying the stops controlling the movements of the thread carrier bars, the combination with each of the traversing boxes of alever stop provided with four or more stepped striking faces, a second stop provided with two striking faces, thread carrier bars, tappets on the thread carrier bars, means for raising and lowering the stops and means for angularly adjusting each of the lever stops in order to adjust its several striking faces in the path of a tappet on a thread carrier bar, substantially as described.. I

2. In a. straight-bar knitting machine having traversing boxes for carrying the stops controlling the movements of the thread carrier bars, the combination with each of the traversing boxes of a lever stop provided with four or more stepped striking faces, a second stop provided with two striking faces, thread carrier bars, tappets on the thread carrier bars, a bar for raising and lowering the stops carried by arms on a. rocking shaft, a lever operated by a cam onthe slur cock for rocking the shaft, and means for angularly adjusting the lever stops, substantially as described. a

3. In a straight-bar knitting machine having traversing boxes for carrying the stops controlling the movements of the thread carrier bars, the combination with each of the traversing boxes of a lever stop provided with four ormorestriking faces, a second stop provided with two faces, thread carrier bars, tappets on the thread carrier bars, 'abar for raising and lowering the stops, carried by arm s, pniakrockingshafltrailever which is adjusted by studs on a pattern chain and is connected to an arm on the rocking shaft for the purpose of rocking the latterdrom time to time and adjusting the lever stops, substantially as described. 1 HARRY WILFRED START.

ERNEST START. 

